ABSTRACT
Environmental justice is a world-wide social and political movement, a slogan for many across the globe who seek risk management decisions that are more informed by equity considerations, more accessible and transparent to the public, and more protective of not only disadvantaged population but also the environment that supports life. I believe it to be among the most powerful forces for global change, a counterforce to unfettered globalization with implications for the kinds of risk assessments that are done and how risk-informed decisions are made. While inequities are not new, during the 1980s, some U.S. scholars recognized
that a disproportionate burden of the environmental risk was being borne by poor and several minority populations. The U.S. government’s formal response was a Presidential Executive Order in 1994 (see below for more details). The U.S. program is the focus of this chapter beginning with the first steps taken by the United Church of Christ and leading up to the EPA’s ongoing efforts, several of which are discussed in this chapter. Around the world, other nations were slower to formally acknowledge the issue, but as this chapter will show some are moving forward. Two caveats are in order about this chapter. One is that it is difficult to keep up
with environmental justice activities at the global level. One reason is that so much about environmental justice never appears in the black or even gray literatures, although web releases by organizations and blogs are sources to be routinely scanned. Much of what appears in the black literature misses the subtle behind-thescenes efforts made by thousands of people to assemble coalitions to pressure government and business to be cognizant of environmental justice. Second, I have been involved in parts of this story, and make no pretense that I can separate myself from what I have done.
